An anti-service charges protester in Cork has been jailed for three days for refusing to pay fees implemented by Cork Corporation for the collection of refuse.
Mr Mick Barry, a member of the Socialist Party, was arrested by the Gardaí this morning after he refused to pay a fine imposed earlier this year.
Mr Joe Higgins TD, leader of the Socialist Party, told ireland.comthat Mr Barry had been one of a group of people who had been protesting outside the civic offices in Cork for a number of months over services charges that he described as "outrageous."
"This protest has been ongoing for about a year and Mick Barry is only the latest protester to have been jailed," said Mr Higgins.
"Last year we forced to county councils to back down on the water-charges and we will continue to protest until these charges have been dropped.
"When you compare the treatment of some of the people in the rogues gallery in front of the different tribunals at the moment with that of Mr Barry its incredible."
Mr Barry will be standing in the next Dáil elections in the North Cork central constituency.
The Workers' Party has also condemned the jailing of Mr Barry and called on Cork Corporation to desist from his "persecution of people engaged in a legitimate protest".
Mayfield Workers' Party spokesman Ted Tynan, who was himself jailed by the Corporation in 1991 and who faces a further term of imprisonment in the immediate future, said that the members of Cork City Council must also face up to their responsibility for the jailings.
"This issue has dragged on for too long now. Those who are being jailed are ordinary, decent working people - PAYE workers who contribute heavily to the economy of this country," Mr Tynan said.
"We are part of a common struggle against the double taxation of service charges which will not be broken by the policy of jailings."
There was no one available for comment from Cork Corporation at the time of writing.